Derek Taylor studied law and history at Oxford, before joining Independent Television News of London. As an on-screen correspondent, he reported from Northern Ireland, Rome, South Africa, the USA and the Middle East, covering five wars. He spent seven months in Iran during the Islamic revolution, working for ABC News of America after US passport-holders were expelled - a time and place portrayed in the film Argo. In his later career, he became CEO of the world’s biggest TV news agency owned by The Associated Press of America. He now works as a historian, journalist and public speaker.